The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Tea Party Envy’ and the Academic Elite

Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 4 Comments

“We’ve long seen how tea party envy has been a common theme for the Obama era . . . and in [Harvard University history professor Jill] Lepore’s interview we see the lament that academic elites have failed to tap the tea party’s populist vibrancy. And so, when people and movements find themselves failing to be on the right side of history . . . they lash out. They attack and disparage. And they engage in libelous accusations that work to destroy any efforts at civil debate they purportedly claim to champion.”
— Professor Donald Douglas, American Power, “Harvard’s Jill Lepore Ties Jared Loughner to Tea Party ‘Constitution Worship’ “


Category: American Power, Arizona, Education, Tea Party

How to Talk to a Follower of
the Zeitgeist Cult (If You Must)

Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 46 Comments

In response to my descriptions of Zeitgeist — the conspiracy-cult movie that Jared Loughner’s friend says had a “profound impact” on the Tucson massacre gunman — I today received an e-mail from a British follower of the Zeitgeist Movement. He repeated the cult’s own mantras about substituting an egalitarian global redistributionist “resource-based economy” for the “monetary-based economy.” He repeated these things in such a way as to indicate to me that he did not recognize that he was the victim of a scam. Therefore I replied by e-mail:

You understand, don’t you, that the abolition of private property (and of prices) has already been attempted, and failed disastrously? Merely substituting the term “resources” for “property” in the old socialist dogma does not change the nature of the proposition. Neither does denouncing “monetary-based economy” differ in meaning from denouncing “capitalism” (as did Marx). A thing is what it is, no matter what you choose to call it.
There is nothing new or different in the Zeitgeist Movement/Venus Project. It is merely a word-game, wherein some clever sophists have used a lot of up-to-date “green” language for some very old (red) formulations. Your failure to recognize the bogusness of their scheme — it is not innovative and honest, but derivative and deceptive — does not speak well of your supposed skepticism. Your problem is not that you lack intelligence, but that you lack knowledge. You might begin to remedy this deficiency by reading Ludwig von Mises’ Socialism and F.A. Hayek’s The Fatal Conceit, which expose the fundamental and inescapable errors to which you seem to have succumbed. I would further recommend Thomas Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed lest, having disabused yourself of the errors of socialism (for that is what the Zeitgeist Movement advocates, no matter what they call it), you should then fall prey to the errors of liberalism.
God bless you. Please don’t go on a murder spree.

Sincerely,
Robert Stacy McCain

Harsh words are necessary to rouse the dreamers from their dangerous trance. The delusions of these people deserve to be mocked, and often, and by someone who knows how.

The perpetrators of the Zeitgeist Movement/Venus Project scam are preying on the naïveté of gullible people who haven’t studied the history of socialism. As I say, it isn’t that such people lack intelligence. They are merely ignorant. Once they realize that they have been deceived and played for suckers, once they have taken time to educate themselves about the nature of the flimflam by which they have been duped, the ex-cultists will become the cult’s most powerful critics.

Remember: I used to be a Democrat. Talk about a phony scam . . .

UPDATE: Commenting on a post by Greg Hansom at the Ludwig von Mises Institute blog, I wrote:

It is my experience that, once cured of the socialist delusion, people’s disagreements about religion and other matters tend to be less disagreeable. Once we can agree what the answer to humanity’s problems is not, our arguments about the what the answer is become less contentious. And I would point out that the quest for an answer to humanity’s problems depends upon the question of what those problems are, and whether any “answer” to them is actually possible.

UPDATE II: Twiter friend Paula has important information:

Because I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh’s discussion of the topic, I don’t know what source he cited. I’ll check his “Stack of Stuff” later. The point is, he mentioned it. Three days of hammering this Zeitgeist angle on one little blog may have sent ripples out across the Internet, and somehow the wave reached El Rushbo. His millions of readers are now aware of this phenomenon and they will begin to ask the key question: “Why is this important clue to the killer’s motives being ignored by major news organizations?”

UPDATE III: Hans Palmstierna at Save Capitalism has proposed using the number of Zeitgeist Movement followers as a metric of a nation’s economic kookiness:

The most interesting thing we can take away from this little calculation is that people are indeed wacko-conspiratory in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Most of the Eastern european countries sport more than 500 of these nutters per million inhabitants.

PREVIOUSLY:

  • Zeitgeist: Watch the Conspiracy Movie That Had a ‘Profound Impact’ on Tucson Mass Murder Suspect Jared Loughner
  • Salvia, Zeitgeist and the Tucson Shooter
  • ‘Vain in Their Imaginations’: God-Haters and the Tucson Massacre

    • * * * * *

    Category: Arizona, Conspiracy Theories, Crime, Economics, Rush Limbaugh, Zeitgeist

    ‘Somebody Has to Stand Up’

    Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 30 Comments

    So says Mark Levin:

    [H]e offered $100,000 to Chris Matthews to find any example where Sarah Palin or Levin himself had “promoted the murder of anybody.”
    The direct challenge to Matthews took place shortly after Levin had played clips of Matthews suggesting Levin’s passionate radio shows were “angry” and apparently implying that Levin’s shows and those of talker Michael Savage had some responsibility for the Tucson murders. The allegation came on the heels of a specific allegation by left-wing Pima County Sheriff insisting Rush Limbaugh was at fault, while MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann demanded Palin “repudiate her own part in amplifying violence and violent imagery in politics.”
    Said Levin, who is also a considerable lawyer in his role as head of the landmark Legal Foundation:
    “I challenge Chris Matthews, I’ll put $100,000 on the table, to find any example where Sarah Palin has promoted the murder of anybody,” said Levin — specifically excluding terrorists and the Taliban.
    Levin went on: “A hundred thousand on the table if Chris Matthews can find anywhere Mark Levin has urged the murder of people who have different political viewpoints. That’s the murder of politicians …where I said go out there and kill X,Y,Z…go out there and kill A,B,C. I challenge him right now. Sarah Palin. Me. Go ahead.”

    Matthews is a gutless faggot Canadian. Meanwhile, the “Lean Forward” network has now made a graphic out of its counterfactual guilt-by-association, prompting Radley Balko to say:

    It’s a powerful image. . . . It’s also complete bullsh*t.

    And when are people going to start talking about the influence of Zeitgeist on Tucson shooter Jared Loughner?

    Category: Arizona, Crime, Mark Levin, MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Talk Radio

    We Hate You, Jake Gyllenhaal

    Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 18 Comments

    How dare you dump sweet little Taylor Swift!

    When Jake Gyllenhaal dumped Taylor Swift over the phone just before New Year’s — ending their whirlwind two-month romance — Swift, 21, was completely blind-sided, multiple pals tell the new Us Weekly, out now.
    “It was a 180-degree turn and so out of the blue,” a source tells Us of 30-year-old Gyllenhaal’s decision.
    Explains another insider, “Jake just told her it wasn’t working out…Taylor is really upset and hurt. She doesn’t know what she did for him to put a stop to it. She feels really burned by him.”
    Indeed, it was an about-face for the Love and Other Drugs actor, who was first to pursue Swift, asking his handlers in October to set them up . . .
    “Jake started this whole thing, but then he just stopped responding to her,” another source says.

    Mister Hollywood Movie Star evidently just wanted another notch on his belt. Love ’em and leave ’em. What a low-down polecat.

    A curse on him. From now on, only bad things will happen to you, Jake. And when your career is ruined and you’re living in a cardboard box, you just remember it was because you done a good girl wrong.

    Category: Celebrities

    LIVE AT FIVE – 1.14.11

    Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 4 Comments

    TOP NEWS
    Tucson Bids Farewell To Youngest Victim Of Madman’s Rampage

    Pallbearers carry Christina Green's coffin into church for her funeral Mass

    Firemen honor child born on 9/11 with flag from WTC ruins

    Search Is On For Brazilian Flood Victims
    Over 400 dead, 14,000 homeless after torrential rains trigger landslides near Rio



    Giffords’ Condition Still Improving
    “A lot of medicine is outside of our control, and we are wise to acknowledge miracles.”



    POLITICS
    President’s Speech At Memorial Actually Presidential

    Wins over the critics

    Bipartisan praise for Obama’s speech

    NJ Governor Christie To Woo Illinois Businesses

    Herman Cain Inches Closer To Presidential Run




    Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Won’t Run In 2012 (Video)

    Mass. Parole Board Resigns En Masse After Parolee Kills Policeman



    THE ECONOMY, STUPID
    Government Motors, Chrysler Lobby Their Owner: Uncle Sam
    Commerce Secretary Locke Presses PRC To Open Markets
    IBM Prepares For Man v. Machine “Jeopardy! ” Showdown
    HTC Working On Buttonless Android Handset?



    SPORTS
    Won And Done: Heisman Winner Newton To Enter NFL Draft

    Auburn QB Cam Newton

    Skips senior season at Auburn

    At Least He Isn’t Josh McDaniels

    Yankees Sign Reliever Soriano For Three Years

    Stanford Assistants To Join Former Boss At 49ers?

    Love Scores 35 As Timbermutts Defeat Wizards 109-97

    Lawrence Taylor Pleads Guilty To Lesser Charges In Teenage Rape Case

    Rangers Newbie Wolski Scores Sole Goal In Win Over Canucks

    Bruins Beat Flyers In Wild 7-5 Game



    FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
    Camille In No Hurry To Divorce Kelsey

    Camille Grammer

    Files to block quickie divorce

    Keira Not Getting It Knightley

    Rare Christina Hendricks Playboy Pix

    Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean In Rehab

    Wendy Williams Shows Off Her Bikini Bod (Video)

    Jake Dumped Taylor “Out Of The Blue”

    Gwen Stefani The Gorgeous New Face Of L’Oreal Paris



    “Millionaire Matchmaker”‘s Victims Share Woes

    Now Casting: “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”



    FOREIGNERS
    Australian Flood Cleanup Costs Could Top $15 Billion
    Tunisian President Promises Reform, Will Step Down In 2014
    For Hezbollah, Claiming Victory In Lebanon Could Be Costly
    Italy’s Constitutional Court Revokes Berlusconi’s Immunity
    Religious Intolerance Sweeping Pakistan
    Oh wait, that’s not news..



    BLOGS & STUFF
    Allahpundit: Christie Says Palin Needs To Be More Unscripted
    Michelle Malkin: Kill The Obamacare 1099 Mandate
    Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Sarah Palin Is Right About “Blood Libel”
    Newsbusters: NPR Contributor Heaves Sigh Of “Brown Relief” That Tucson Shooter Was A Gringo
    Yid With Lid: U.S.-Based Muslim Terror Org – “Don’t Talk To The FBI”
    Kevin Williamson: U.S. On The Way To Losing AAA Credit Rating
    Neo-Neocon: Why Has The Left’s Mask Slipped Recently?
    American Power: Why Progressives Lost It
    Max Boot: No Fifth Star For Petraeus – Yet

    — compiled by Wombat-socho

    Category: Live at Five

    Alyssa Milano Tweeted This

    Posted on | January 13, 2011 | 8 Comments

    Animated history of the Beatles:

    BEATLES Rock Band from alberto mielgo on Vimeo.

    Follow Alyssa Milano on Twitter. Because if you followed her in real life, you’d get arrested, you sick freak.

    Category: Celebrities, Music, Video

    ‘The Most Bald-Faced Lie I Have Ever Read in the New York Times’

    Posted on | January 13, 2011 | 8 Comments

    “And that’s saying something,” says Ann Coulter:

    [T]hat paper implied Loughner is a pro-life zealot. This is the precise opposite of the truth. . . .
    ABC News reported: “One Pima Community College student, who had a poetry class with Loughner later in his college career, said he would often act ‘wildly inappropriate.’
    “‘One day (Loughner) started making comments about terrorism and laughing about killing the baby,’ classmate Don Coorough told ABC News, referring to a discussion about abortions. ‘The rest of us were looking at him in shock … I thought this young man was troubled.’
    “Another classmate, Lydian Ali, recalled the incident as well.
    “‘A girl had written a poem about an abortion. It was very emotional and she was teary eyed and he said something about strapping a bomb to the fetus and making a baby bomber,’ Ali said.”
    Here’s the Times’ version: “After another student read a poem about getting an abortion, Mr. Loughner compared the young woman to a ‘terrorist for killing the baby.'”

    Ace of Spades gave a nice hat-tip to Nice Deb for finding that. Because Ace is good like that.  Read more

    Category: Ace of Spades, Ann Coulter, Arizona, New York Times

    ‘That Little Faggot With the Earring and the Makeup’? He’s Now Banned in Canada

    Posted on | January 13, 2011 | 80 Comments

    Dire Straits ix now branded a homophobic hate group:

    It was No. 1 in 1985, but it’s unacceptable for Canadian eyes and ears today.
    The Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” was ruled by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council to be “extremely offensive” and thus inappropriate for airing because it uses an anti-gay slur. . . .
    The Canadian broadcasters’ “Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code” requires them to “ensure that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of … sexual orientation” among other things. . . .

    You know what’s an even more insulting slur? “Canadian.” Where I come from, buddy, them’s fightin’ words. Any faggot in Alabama would kick your ass if you called him a “Canadian.” Well, here’s the hateful guitar riff that’s too rockin’ for you Canadian wussies to handle:

    Somebody call Mark Potok at the SPLC. Tell him I played this homophobic anti-Canadian anthem and demand to be denounced for it!

    UPDATE: What’s wrong with this headline?

    Canadian Fags Are Pussies

    Obviously, it’s redundant to say “Canadian Fags.” Sodomy is their national pastime up there.

    UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

    UPDATE III: Linked by The Daley Gator, That Mr. Guy’s Blog, Inoperable Terran, The Lonely Conservative, Moose and Squirrel and Da Tech Guy. Thanks!

    UPDATE IV: You know who I hate even more than I hate Canadians? Jake Gyllenhaal. Also, Chris Matthews. Southern man don’t need either one of ’em around.


    Category: Canada, Gays, Music, Video
    « go back — keep looking »

      About

      This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

      Subscribe to our feed

      Search

      Admin